NATIONAL jobless figures have defied expectations with a surprise fall, according to the latest ABS data.

On a seasonally adjusted basis the fall was mirrored in Queensland, which saw the unemployment rate drop down a tick from 6.1 to 6.0 per cent.

On a statistically smoothed trend basis though, the reverse was true for Queensland, with the jobless rate moving up a notch to 6.2 per cent.

The state managed to add nearly 28,000 new jobs in November, although the bulk of these were part-time positions.

This is still well behind the national performance though, where unemployment fell to 5.2 per cent on the back of a surge in part time jobs and another fall in the participation rate.

It means the Newman Government will need to create 200 jobs a day to reach its target of four per cent unemployment by 2018, despite today's slight improvement in Queensland's jobless rate.

Labor's treasury spokesman Curtis Pitt said 151,200 Queenslanders were now out of work, up 14,500 since the LNP took office.

"Prior to the March state election the Premier said he needed to generate 420,000 new jobs to reach his four per cent unemployment target over six years - that's the equivalent of creating around 190 jobs a day," said Mr Pitt.

"But the LNP is creating roughly 24 jobs a day while around 60 people a day join the jobless queue.

"That's a bus-full of people a day joining the jobless queue under the dysfunctional LNP Government."

On ABC radio this morning, Premier Campbell Newman said some of his government's strategies, including public service job cuts, contributed to the reversing economy.

"The things that we have done have delivered a component of that but at the moment were seeing a massive downturn in terms of mining activity, exploration and many new mines that were meant to go ahead have been put on hold and that's because the prices of coal have come down and there hasn't been a change to the Australian dollar," he said.

The only state to register a seasonally adjusted lift in unemployment was Victoria, with almost 3000 extra people joining the unemployment line as the states jobless rate rose from 5.4 per cent to 5.5 per cent.

The fall in the national unemployment rate was aided by a drop in the participation rate, which slipped down 0.1 per cent to 65.1 per cent close to its six-year low as more people opted out of the labour market than joined it in November.

But the resilience of the economy shocked the analysts who had expected the November report released today to show a rise in the unemployment rate to 5.5 per cent, from 5.4 per cent in October, alongside a 5000 decline in job positions.

CommSec economist Savanth Sebastian said the doomsayers have got it wrong again with more jobs created, more hours worked and fewer people unemployed.

"It is encouraging to see the lift in overall employment," he said. "While jobs are being lost in some industries, clearly they are being created in other industries."

Mr Sebastian said the numbers are consistent with the Reserve Bank retiring to the sidelines for the coming months, hurting the prospect of further interest rate cuts in 2013.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows total employment rose 13,900 to 11.546 million in the month. But most of the new jobs were in the part-time sector with full-time employment falling by 4200 to 8.13 million in November while part-time employment was up 18,100 to 3.41 million.

Overnight, it was reported that Queensland's economy is in reverse as the fiscal bite of the Newman Government's public service job cuts hit home while government spending and the mining sector retract.

The slump is at odds with the slow growth being shown in the national economy.

After encouraging growth in the previous quarter, the Queensland economy went backwards in the September quarter, according to the latest National Accounts figures.

The Australia Bureau of Statistics data show a key measure of economic growth - State Final Demand - contracted by 1.6 per cent in the three-month period.

In comparison the national economy expanded by 0.5 per cent over the same period.

The major contributor to the turnaround in Queensland (the state posted 3.6 per cent growth for the June quarter) appears to be a sharp contraction in government spending - spending that has not yet been replaced by private sector activity.

Queensland's sharp U-turn came as the Newman Government's public service job cut program hit its peak, and also as resource giants such as Xstrata, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto began shelving some expansion plans and also shed staff in an effort to reduce costs as commodity prices dropped.

In seasonally adjusted terms, government spending fell nearly $800 million quarter on quarter, which sucked a lot of demand out of the economy.

The bad news for Queensland follows a marked decline in job advertisements in the latest ANZ job ads series, weak dwelling approvals, flat retail sales, and expectations that unemployment numbers are likely to tick up further with the release of jobs data today.

Treasurer Tim Nicholls denied the dip was a result of state government cuts, instead blaming the high Australian dollar.

"We put in the Budget papers that as a result of the government getting the books back in the black that there would be some softening in some areas," Mr Nicholls said.

"The vast majority of the softening in our view has come as a result of the persistent high Australian dollar, which has made manufacturing, tourism and agricultural exports much less competitive on the world stage," Mr Nicholls said.

Mr Nicholls remained positive about the state's economic future, predicting 4 per cent growth over the next year.

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Comments on this story

Judicus of Brisbane Posted at 1:18 PM December 06, 2012

You can't sack 20,000 people and not have the state's economy impacted. Less people working, less money being spent.....it's really very simple. Newman could have avoided this had he worked on the theory of natural attrition, but he has probably never heard of it. He has cost this state $1 billion dollars to slimline the public service and then stated that he would build it up again. What a genius this man is. All the gutless, self-seeking Ministers and back benchers that didn't have the guts to stand up for their electorate, even though Newman lied by saying he wouldn't touch the public service, their day will come.
Newman lied about heaps in the lead up to the election but he doesn't get the same name Gillard does, why not? Gillard told one lie, Newman has told heaps. He seems to have forgotten that a large number of public servants live in his electorate, he should be looking around for another place to land his lying mouth.

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